Is this fine with shadowing for ONE doctor only?

[NP545]

I am going to shadow a doctor from 9 AM to 9 PM for one day... is this enough shadowing for this particular specialty? Or should I shadow more than one day with him?

(I will also shadow other specialties and doctors. This question is only regarding one particular doctor)

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[el_duderino]

Depends on what it is, but I think that's reasonable as long as you're doing significant shadowing elsewhere.

 

[NP545]

Depends on what it is, but I think that's reasonable as long as you're doing significant shadowing elsewhere.

How many total hours should I aim for?

And on the app, how should I list the shadowing of multiple doctors?

 

[el_duderino]

I listed "MD Shadowing" then gave a brief blurb. "Bob Bobson, MD, General Surgery. 20 hours. 12 hours in the OR laparoscopic procedures and consults in addition to 8 hours at outpatient clinic observing varicose vein ablation and meetings. Jim Jimson, MD, Psychiatry. 8 hours in an outpatient clinic observing individual therapy sessions." etc.

Aim for as many hours as you can reasonably get. I'd consider 50 as something of a minimum though I'm sure you can get by with less, especially if you have a lot of other clinical experience.

 

[BillrothI]

How many total hours should I aim for?

And on the app, how should I list the shadowing of multiple doctors?

You should aim for 50 hours or so. Feel free to do more if there's a specialty that you're particularly interested in.

On my AMCAS application, I listed one of the doctors I shadowed as my contact. In the "Description" field, I listed all of the other doctors I shadowed along with their specialty, hospital/clinic location, number of hours, and phone number.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

I am going to shadow a doctor from 9 AM to 9 PM for one day... is this enough shadowing for this particular specialty? Or should I shadow more than one day with him?

(I will also shadow other specialties and doctors. This question is only regarding one particular doctor)

As far as enough for a particular specialty...nobody is expecting you to have a thorough understanding of a particular type of medicine. Even if you have 100's of hours (I, for example, spent around 250 hours with a ped heme/onc), you'll have only the vaguest inkling of what it is they do and how they do it (and it would be a big error to suggest otherwise in your application! I have talked to adcom members who are particularly put off by pre-meds believing they know what it means to be a doctor from solely shadowing).

 

[NCPremed13]

You should aim for 50 hours or so. Feel free to do more if there's a specialty that you're particularly interested in.

On my AMCAS application, I listed one of the doctors I shadowed as my contact. In the "Description" field, I listed all of the other doctors I shadowed along with their specialty, hospital/clinic location, number of hours, and phone number.

I did the same for my app. I also included phone numbers. OP, I suggest 50 hours minimum overall in different specialties.